Behind the Mask
by PRONTO3000
Summary: I wonder. What could be hiding behind that mask of yours? A sad expression? Or a happy one? Or none at all? I don't know. But, I think that a smile suits you best.


**Author Note: Okay, so I tried writing a chapter of Deep Purple (one of my stories) and somehow ended up writing this. I don't even know when it went from Little Busters to Touhou... *facepalm***

 **Ah well. I like how this turned out anyway. Enjoy~.**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own Touhou Project, nor do I own the picture.**

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A stage. In front of me, there was a stage. And in the center of it, stood a young girl clad in a blue plaid blouse, adorned with buttons of various shapes. Her salmon skirt is pumpkin-shaped, and lined with holes in the shape of alternating smiling and frowing faces. It was quite peculiar of an outfit in my opinion.

Gracefully, she raised her left arm. With a fan in hand, she began to dance with the passive and strangely mystifying chorus sung by someone behind the stage.

Donning a melancholic mask on her face, I can't see her real expression. The petite body moved along with the rhythm. Long lavender hair swayed as her feet swiftly stepped on the wooden platform.

Slowly rotating her body backwards, she thrusted her right arm straight forward and starts waving the fans she held on both hands.

"Beautiful..." A silent mutter escaped my mouth.

The girl continued to agilely shift from one spot to the other, continuously, gently.

As time passes on, she suddenly disappeared behind the stage and reappeared in the next moment, holding a naginata. Without anyone noticing, the mask of melancholy she wears just now has been replaced by a mask depicting the face of an angry Oni.

The tempo of her dance instantly quicken, as if the calm atmosphere just now was a complete lie.

Swinging the naginata violently, fear strikes my heart. Her portrayal of an angry demon, no... the **wrath** she is trying to represent feels so genuine that I honestly wondered whichever she's just that talented of an actor or really are experiencing such emotion.

 **Intense** , the word came to mind when I see her performance on stage.

The play goes on, and her movements gradually undertake changes. The swinging becomes slower and the tempo decreased. At some point, she stopped swinging the naginata and hastily entered the background once more.

Seconds later, her small figure jumped energetically, a God of Happiness' mask is plastered on her face and now she's holding the previous fan ornaments.

Bouncing along the edge of the stage in happiness while randomly swaying both her silky hair and fans, a cheerful voice could be heard from behind that mask.

"Is she...?"

"Hahaha~!" She's laughing, loud and clear. It sounded warm and childish.

I smiled for some reason. So did everyone else.

Abruptly, a loud bang and vivid flashes of light appeared from from behind her.

"Whoa! It's fireworks!" Commented some of the spectators.

I don't know where the fireworks come from, but it's pretty and colorful. Someone probably lit them from the back.

Then, before anyone knows it, the show has reached it's climax. After changing her mask into that of a determined wolf, she fiercely danced. Beads of sweats could be seen trickling down from the nape of her neck.

Extremely fast. Extraordinarily so. You could feel her seriousness by looking at her as she continue to waltz around the modest stage.

Unexpectedly, it began to rain. At first, it was just a light drizzle. But the volume of falling waters progressively increased until it turned into a full-blown downpour.

All of the villagers instantaneously flocked away to took cover from the falling rainfall, and as I was about to follow them, I stopped all of a sudden.

Because of her. She is still... standing at the center of the stage.

Raindrops attacked her tiny figure, and soaked her clothes.

What the hell is she doing, basking in the rain like that?! She could get a cold ( _or worse_ )! I quickly approached her, and stopped in my tracks yet again.

There are masks floating around her. Some of them are the ones she uses in the play just now.

As I stared at her in disbelief, I noticed that she's covering her face with another mask. But this one is different from before, it's a mask of a crying face.

She's a youkai. I realized that, yet, I'm not scared of her. How can I? I mean...

 **She's definitely crying.**

Even I could tell without looking at her face.

"Oi, why do you look so sad?" Hearing my somewhat rough voice, she looked at me. After what feels like eternity, a quiet voice answered.

"...Because everyone left." Silence.

Wait, that's it?

"Wait, that's it?" My thought came out of my mouth on it's own.

"..." She clumsily nodded her head. I see, so she's sad that everyone left before she could finish her dance.

"Say, why don't we take cover from the rain firs-" "NO!"

I cringed in surprise at her outburst.

"I... was so happy when so much people came to watch me... They all smiled, they all laughed... but then... everyone left! Now there's no one who'd watch me dance any...more..."

The mask she's holding in front of her face fell to the ground (and floated soon after), revealing her face.

It was expressionless.

While comparing her face to the masks floating around her, you'd be hard-pressed to decide which of them are the _real_ mask.

But, if you looked close enough, you could see the quiet flow of tears mixed with raindrops as they flooded out of her eyes.

I hate that. A smile would suit her better a lot better.

 **I want her to smile.**

"That's not true. Not everyone have left." My words reached her ears, making her look at me. " I mean, I'm still here after all."

"Y... you?" Stuttered her.

"Yep. And I could watch you dance if that's what you want."

"...Really?" Her face stayed the same for most parts, but I could see faint trace of hope on it.

"Really." Squatting myself down, I picked her ornamental fans that had fallen down near her feet at some point and motioned her to take it.

As she took the fans and was about to wear one of her mask, I stopped her.

"Don't hide your face." A mask with a shocked expression floated near her face, and she began to protest.

"...B-But, how am i suppose to do it without my mask?"

"You don't need them. Why don't you try to express your emotion with your face instead of using those masks?"

For the first time since our conversation, she showed a troubled expression and bit her lower lip.

"I can't do it..."

"What do you mean? Aren't you showing a troubled face right now?"

"Eh...?" She raised both of her hand to touch her face, and realized that I'm telling the truth.

I smiled at her. "You can do it."

After I said that, I get down from the stage and realized just how cold my body actually are.

Uwah... I'm going to get sick...

I ignored the cold and stared at her. Feeling my eyes on her, she relucantly resumed her dance again.

The gracefulness, the fierceness, the joyfulness, they're all gone.

Her dance didn't have as much effect, they don't contain as much emotion as when she was wearing those masks. Yet, I feel that this is more fitting.

"What... is this feeling?" An expression began to form on her expressionless face.

"I've been dancing since forever, yet... this is the first time that I've felt like this..." Slowly, the corner of her mouth raise upwards.

"This is so... fun!" Finally, a happy smile bloomed on her face.

The motion of her body immediately becomes energetic. It's almost the same as when she was wearing one of those masks.

As I thought, a smile suits her face the best.

Swinging her fans, stepping from one spot to the others, she keeps on dancing despite the ceaseless rain while laughing cheerfully, I couldn't help but call her adorable.

Finally, she raised her hands up and spread them both. Confetti flew out from behind her fans, announcing the end of the play.

With a weary expression on her face, she tiredly comes down from the stage and approached me, then, she whispered to me.

"Thank you... for watching..."

I smiled wryly, and answered. "...You're welcome. Also, can I ask you one thing?"

"What is it...?"

"What's your name?"

She paused for a while, but then offered me the answer with a small smile.

"...Kokoro, Hata no Kokoro."


End file.
